Another Dark Castle
by White Shade
Summary: It seems even in reality Belle has to clean up after Rumpelstiltskin. Rated for themes, might be too low.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So this was just something I came up with in between whilst writing my other two fanfics and a short original story.

**Another Dark Castle**

Belle shook her head at the sight of all his stuff. How he managed to keep all of this was beyond her. She could hardly walk through the hallways without hitting something, not to mention something made of metal or other hard material. There were bruises developing on her frail, white skin, though the cotton dress hid those features about her. Still, he was swept away by her beauty. Her long brown hair usually done up in some hair style she'd do herself, while she was just beginning to understand the concept of mascara, thanks to Ruby. Today, she'd done it perfectly, and she was proud of it.

However, today she didn't have anyone to show it to. No, today she was cleaning out the house because in her mind, this place was a disaster! Mr. Gold was working overtime tonight, claiming he had other business after locking up the pawn shop. So, Belle decided she'd take advantage of this time. Hoping to surprise him, Belle began by searching through the cabinets. No surprise, there was not a single spray can for cleaning up dust.

Although he'd yell at her for leaving, she knew she had to get out of the house. She snuck by the shop without him noticing, for he was in his office, focused on something or otherwise intently engaged, as usual. Her feet ran swiftly as she held up her blue and white cotton dress. Belle knocked on the door of the person she knew could help her out.

"Cinderella," Belle said, panting slightly. Ashely answered the door, the baby in her arms, gasping as she saw Belle.

"Belle!" she exclaimed, opening the door wider. "Come in."

Shawn was also at work, so Cinderella was just tending the the baby, about to put him down for another nap, for he was getting fussy and crabby again.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," Belle said.

"Oh no, not at all," Ashely replied. "Just ready to put Pumpkin here down."

"I thought you might know where I can get cleaning supplies," Belle said.

"Well, yeah," Cinderella said. "How much do you need?"

"A _lot_," Belle said, emphasis on that last word. Ashley began to piece together that she planned on cleaning house today, so after putting the baby down for a nap and calling Gretel at the last minute to babysit for her, she left a note for Gretel on the door and took Belle to the general store.

A sneeze fell through the air, and Cinderella wished the dwarf well before taking Belle to the isle where she did all of her shopping.

"That's for dust," she pointed to white can. "That's for glass." She pointed to a clear bottle filled with clear liquid. "And that's for your kitchen floor and other tiled areas."

Belle stared for a minute at the modern version of the mop. It used steam instead, and there was no bucket.

"That's amazing!" Belle said, looking at Ashley as if she didn't believe it was true at first, but Cinderella nodded.

"It's a whole lot easier. Especially if you're moving around all that stuff. Are you sure you don't want help?"

"You would?" Belle said, giving her a weak smile, lifting her eyebrows in appreciation.

"Of course! Gretel's fine. She knows who to call," Ashley said, nodding. They purchased the new supplies and made their way back to Rumpelstiltskin's house.

Right when Ashely entered, her nose was turned away and she herself sneezed.

"ACHOO!" as she did so, she hit a statue of a gargoyle. "OW! What the-ugh, and I though Shawn was bad...I pity you, honey!"

Belle smirked, setting the bags of supplies on the kitchen table. Cinderella set the mop against one of the chairs. The girls decided to start with the living room, where there was a fireplace that probably hadn't been tended to since she last was inside the dark castle. It looked like the exact same one too. Their rags were immersed in black from the dust and old ashes. Belle swept the old ashes into a pail, both of them sneezing quite a bit. Then, Ashley carried the full bucket outside, where she dumped it into what she thought was a fire pit.

"Is that a fire pit out there?" she asked, coming back in to see Belle dusting off a shelf while its contents were placed on the mantel.

"Once upon a time," Belle replied.

The girls cleaned out the rest of the fireplace, deciding to leave a log for last as a finishing touch. Ashley dusted off the relics with care as Belle dusted off the shelves. They went through five rags on the fireplace, and now they were reaching for more from the kitchen. There were plenty to go around, but the girls thought this would never end.

"Where does he keep all of this?"

"He just leaves it out. I hit it all the time," Belle said.

"I'm shocked nothing's broken and he hasn't yelled at you yet."

It was well into the afternoon, when the doorbell rang. It was Gretel.

"Shawn's home now. He took the rest of the day off. Whatcha doin'?" the girl asked. The two looked at each other and smile. Ashely bribed Gretel to help them, saying she'd get a little extra cash.

Gladly, the girl obliged, and then there were a three women working. Belle dusted relics this time while Gretel dusted shelves and Ashley cleaned off the mirrors. When that room was done, they realized they would need a lot more help. Although the room was large that they had done, it was just the cleaning of the shelves. A good vacuuming could be done as well. Ashley saw that it was getting to be closer to noon.

"I'm calling Snow," she announced, taking out her phone and dialing the number.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Snow brought Emma, Granny, and Henry with her, smiling proudly but the other three stared apprehensive. Then Snow, Cinderella, and Granny started cleaning the kitchen while Belle, Emma, and Gretel moved on to the upstairs dusting. Henry took rugs out and laid them outside. Ruby decided to show up, asking when Gold was supposed to be home.

"Not until very late," Belle answered, wiping sweat from her brow. "Shake out some rugs, would you? And then take Henry and find some logs to put on the fire in here and outside. Then you two can revamp the fire pit out there with new stones and-"

"Got it," Ruby interrupted, taking Henry outside. Granny rested after helping with the kitchen while Ashely and Snow went upstairs. Gretel cleaned up the railing and the chairs in the hallways.

"Hey!" Gretel yelled to get everyone's attention. "Gold has a basement!"

"He does?" Belle yelled in question.

"Yeah!" Gretel rushed back up the stairs. "It's empty!"

"What?" Granny asked. "Why would he have that?"

"Probably for all the crap in the shop," Emma suggested, pointing at everyone around her. "I'll help Gretel move stuff down there from the hallways. It's perfect, you all know it. I'm just sayin' it."

Those two began with that as Snow took out the vacuum cleaner, and began running it throughout the upstairs. All except in Rumpel's room, which Belle told Emma to stay out of. Not even _she_ was allowed in there. Granny put the dirty rags in the laundry, seeming to come up and find more and more each time. Ashley then started cleaning one of the two bathrooms, while Ruby and Henry returned with wood for the fireplace inside and for the outside, where they stacked some.

"Where did you guys get all that wood?" Snow asked.

"Hey sister!" It was Grumpy and the dwarves. "We heard about your project. Couldn't pass it up! Chopped a small one."

* * *

By that time, Dusk was settling in. The kitchen, the living room, and the upstairs except for Gold's bedroom had been cleaned. Emma sat down so Henry could help Gretel carry down some last minute smaller relics, warning the boy to be careful.

When Ruby stared at the fire pit, she was proud. There were new stones placed all around it, large ones that she hauled with the seven dwarves' help, and then the pile of wood they stacked as well. Grumpy and his men asked if there was anything else they could do, but their work was done.

Snow dismissed them, and Granny took the laundry up, ready to go home. Ruby and her granny went home with the seven men. As a wolf, she came back to tell them that Mr. Gold's shop was locked up tightly, but she didn't see him on the road yet.

Belle sighed, taking a wet washcloth to her forehead. Snow and Emma made sure all the relics from the hallways were nicely placed in the basement for storage.

"Did the basement need cleaning?" Belle asked.

"Gretel did it," Snow replied, going for the plug on the vacuum. Belle told her where to put it. Ashley threw out four cans of dusting material, two bottles of spray, and Emma put away the rags. Ashley paid Gretel for babysitting and helping out at Mr. Gold's.

"We must keep this a secret. If he asks, I did it all," Belle said. "He'll be furious to know you were all in here, touching his stuff."

"Got it, I don't think Ruby, Granny or the dwarves will say anything," Ashley said.

Snow and Emma took their leave, wanting to get some food and taking Henry. Gretel too, took her leave with them. It was just Cinderella and Belle, like the beginning.

* * *

"That was tough!" Ashley said. "Think about it, we changed all the sheets, Granny did laundry, did all the dusting around every room, cleaned the bathrooms, the kitchen, the living room, and we even got all the stuff out of the hallways! Phew!"

"Want a cup of tea?" Belle offered.

"And dirty the kitchen?" Ashley gasped in sarcasm when she dug out the pot. "Absolutely." The girls laughed as Belle put peppermint tea on the stove, digging out some other pots as well.

"What are you doing?"

"Rumpelstiltskin will be home any minute. He'll want something to eat," Belle informed her.

"What could you possibly think of making at this time?" Cinderella asked.

"Chicken soup," Belle answered, putting the broth inside the pot and turning up the stove. She poured Ashley and her a cup of tea and set the pot on the table.

"That was crazy, all of it," Ashely said. "You know that right?"

"Well, I've cleaned larger and worse," Belle replied, smiling. "But yes, that was pretty crazy. We had help though."

"I'm sure you have. We cleaned this place in one day practically!"

They enjoyed their tea when Belle took the soup off the stove, offering some to Ashley.

"I'm starving. I'll have a bowl then I should probably get home. Shawn's probably wondering where I am," Cinderella mentioned. "Oops."

"I'm sorry," Belle said, but Ashely shook her head, telling Belle that it was perfectly all right. Rumpel's place need her more than Shawn when she got here.

Surprisingly, Mr. Gold still hadn't come home, and Belle began to worry a little. She washed their dishes, saying goodbye to Ashely, but just as she was about to leave...

"Ash," Ruby growled, hitting the porch steps. She was a wolf. "Gold's coming up as we speak. Climb on my back. You have to hurry!"

"Oh," Ashely climbed onto Ruby's back, saying goodbye to Belle one last time before Ruby rushed off into the night.

Belle stood on the porch, seeing from the streetlights Rumpelstiltskin's figure. He limped with his cane down the street towards the house. Belle couldn't help it, she just couldn't. A second wind got a hold of her, and she sprinted down the driveway.

"Rumpelstiltskin!" she exclaimed into the night. Her cotton dress had gone nearly black itself, but the blue still highlighted her eyes. He couldn't tell her dress was black anyway due to the night sky. Instantly, he looked up to see her smile as she came running towards him.

He let out a gasp of surprise as she slowed and then crashed into him, giving him a large hug. Sadly, he'd only one arm to offer her in return.

"Belle," he said. "I didn't think you'd be awake. Did you miss me that much, dearie?"

She smiled. "I've just had a long day that's all." They walked up together, a smile on Belle's face the whole time.

"What did you do?" Rumpel couldn't help but ask. Then, she made a worried expression.

"I hope you don't get mad at me, but I moved some of that stuff that was cluttering the hallway into that empty basement you have. I knew you used that for excess stuff in the shop, but..."

"You moved _all_ of that stuff into the basement?" Mr. Gold's eyes widened. She nodded.

"I kept running into it whenever I walked through. I was afraid I was going to break something one day," she explained. Before they entered the house, Belle told him there was soup on the stove and that she'd worry about it tomorrow. Then, she kissed him on the cheek, telling him that she didn't enter his room like he told her not to and that she was retiring for the night.

"Just wanted to wait until you got home," she explained, holding the door for him. Then she went up the staircase. The _cleaned, uncluttered_ staircase.

Rumpelstiltskin's eyes widened as he looked around the house, seeing that it was less cluttered as she said, but then he saw the condition of the living room. The fireplace had been cleaned with a fresh log! The shelves were dusted! His relics, his trophies from past deals were all dusted! The floor he walked on was clean, and he was glad there was no mud on his boots.

The kitchen was the best it had ever looked! He saw that everything had been cleaned and right on the table was a large bowl and the soup was steaming on the stove, the ladle placed inside. Chicken!

His hunger overcame his fascination however, and he had to sit down and eat first and foremost. Eating perhaps a little quicker than normal, he set the dish in the sink, finishing the soup and then making his way into the basement.

The basement was cleaned as well! The little windows were cleaned to let in a little light, the couch was cleaned, and everything that was in the hallway was set either on the wooden floor or the tables he'd placed in case the shop overflowed with items. He hadn't realized how much he actually had until it was all laid out for him on these tables.

Belle had come downstairs in her pajamas with a book, just too excited and nervous about what he thought of the work "she" did. Turning off the light, he found her with a book by the fireplace, and she'd even struck a match to it.

Smiling, Rumpel gazed at her figure in the light of the fireplace, seeing how her brown hair reflected hints of red and her eyes were moving left to right as she read her favorite book for the third time.

"Incredible," he whispered.

"Hmm?" she looked up from her book, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"You cleaned this entire place," he stated.

"All except your room, for you've forbidden me access," Belle explained.

"That's all right, I keep that in order," he said, clearing his throat. She felt better knowing that.

He sat next to her on the couch after she'd adjusted herself, and that's when he saw her bruises as they reflected the only dark patches on her skin. His eyes withheld the look of disapproval painted on his face.

"You've taken quite the beating," he observed, running his hand gently up her soft leg. She flinched at the pain the most recent one brought her, and so he pulled back his hand instantly.

"My apologies Belle," he said. "I've meant to straighten this up for years and years. I just never got around to it. I couldn't bring myself to. And now you've been hurt. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to worry."

Rumpelstiltskin pulled her into a hug, making her set the book on the end table behind her. She nearly fell asleep in his arms.

"You've had quite the trying day, dearie. Go and rest," Rumpel insisted. She stood up, and he along after.

"Oh, and Belle..." The moment she turned around, his lips were pressed to hers, giving her the surprise of her life. She returned the favor, wanting to do that for a very long time.

"Thank you, dearie," he whispered. Belle smiled and then made her way up the stairs. She smiled outside and jumped with joy inside.

That kiss had just made it _all_ worthwhile.


End file.
